Frugal Floozie Friday - Conor O'Neill's Traditional Irish Pub

A pint o' Guinness - or, at least, a pint of Guinness ice cream - for $4.95: that's the fabulous dessert Jeremy chose for his 21st birthday recently at today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature, Conor O'Neill's Traditional Irish Pub.

The Guinness Ice Cream Sundae falls perfectly within our mandatory $5 budget, and is an enormous, luscious concoction: 3 scoops of ice cream topped with chocolate fudge, caramel sauce, pecans, chocolate chips, whipped cream and the crowning cherry.  The birthday guest can choose either a dessert or a $10 card as the restaurant's gift.  Jeremy had chosen the latter last time, as Conor O'Neill's is where he asks me to take him every year for his celebration, so he decided to indulge in the sugar rush this time.

Several of the desserts fall within our budgetary constraints for individual servings, but could happily be shared.  The appetizers, which range in price from $6.50 to $8.50, are easily split as well so that they meet our $5 per person limit.

For as long as we've been going to Conor O'Neill's, we've ordered the Galway Bay Mussels appetizer, so I was astounded not to see it on the lunch menu at our visit; apparently it's only available at dinner now.  But our very sweet waitress, Jennifer, checked with the kitchen and told us that they would make it in honor of Jeremy's birthday.

The cream sauce that the mussels are served in is rich with mustard, garlic and sherry; the dish also comes with slices of baguette and some hearty brown bread.  At $8.95, this is a fabulous dish for two - far more than one person could eat alone, particularly before a meal.  The real treasure is the sauce, though, which is just sublime!  Order extra bread to sop it up, because you truly won't want to leave one tiny morsel on the plate.

I have never ordered anything at Conor O'Neill's that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed, from the Irish "fayre" (fish and chips, shepherd's pie, boxty, etc.) to the sandwiches, from the salads to the desserts.  While they exceeded our Frugal Floozie Friday budget, our entrees - the Big House Burger (with cheese, bacon, mushrooms and onion rings) and Ploughman's Sandwich (grilled vegetables and cheddar) with a side salad - were so fabulous that they warranted a photo op, and a few moments of fame, nonetheless:

In addition to the excellent food, Conor O'Neill's also offers entertainment several evenings each week, from trivia contests to Irish jam sessions - you can find both food and fun for $5 or less per person!  How great is that?


Conor O'Neill's Traditional Irish Pub
318 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
(734) 665-2968


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Jeremy's Birthday Bonanza

Jeremy's birthday was yesterday, on the 10th, but we always start our celebrating on the 9th.

On January 9, 1991, my ex-husband and I went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. Jeremy was a week late, lazing away in warmth and coziness as I was enormous and miserably uncomfortable. But at 3 o'clock in the morning, after going out for our dinner, I started to feel pains. And while he took his sweet time showing up, not appearing 'til 8 p.m. that night after being dragged out with forceps, Jeremy must have decided that he liked Chinese food enough that he wanted more ... at least, that's what his dad always says. And so, every January 9th since, we eat Chinese food.

Jeremy's and my favorite place is the Evergreen Restaurant; the place we'd gone to the night before he was born has closed, so we've at least come up with an excellent substitute!

The lunch specials are an exceptional value: for an average of $7, you get a bowl of soup, a small salad, and a generous plate of your entree served along with rice as well as a spring roll. It's just about the best lunch deal in town!

So, needless to say, the Evergreen is where Jeremy and I ate on Sunday. He took a break from the Atkins diet he and his dad are doing together and indulged in some celebratory Sweet and Sour Chicken (one of his favorite meals ever), along with Wonton Soup. But he doesn't like the ginger salad dressing, so I traded him extra wontons for extra lettuce. I absolutely love the dressing!

I ordered Mongolian Chicken (which is unfortunately not quite as vividly photogenic as Jeremy's meal!), with generous quantities of meat and lots vegetables. It was perfectly cooked, not too spicy. But the portions are always so generous that there was no way that either of us could finish our meals.

And that was just Day 1 of the party. On Day 2, we had cupcakes for breakfast: chocolate and vanilla marbling, per Jeremy's request, with buttercream frosting and a coating of mini M&Ms. What a way to start a morning!

Then Jeremy and I went to lunch at his very favorite restaurant, Conor O'Neill's Traditional Irish Pub. We always order the Galway Bay Mussels in a rich, creamy, luscious, garlicky sauce; and we always order extra bread because the sauce is so amazing that there is never enough served initially to sop it all up. (We had extra sauce once a few years ago, and I mortified Jeremy by asking for a container to take it home in. It was amazing on pasta for dinner the next night!!!) Jeremy actually said that these were so good that they are "conversation stoppers."

Then Jeremy ordered his requisite Reuben, which he orders anywhere that he finds it on a menu. But this one is his favorite, because it may not have the most overwhelming portion of meat but it has the tenderest of any. Jeremy said, "You know how embarrassing it is when you bite into your sandwich and a slab of corned beef pulls out and hangs on your chin 'cause it's too tough to chew???" Well, at Conor's you won't find that, Jeremy assures you!

Believe it or not, I didn't have too much trouble deciding on my own order that day ... some planets must have been in alignment for a brief moment! I chose Conor's Ploughman, a huge vegetable sandwich with melted cheese and pesto mayonnaise, served on whole grain bread. It sounded warm and gooey with a hint of nutrition, and just plain delicious. And it was, when I took one bite! After practically inhaling mussels and bread and rich sauce, I simply couldn't eat the sandwich. But that, in addition to some leftover french fries, would provide a lovely lunch for the next two days at work, wouldn't it??? I was a happy camper ... :)

In closing -- here, in honor of his birthday (which earned him a very generous $10 gift card, too, when I embarrassed Jeremy by asking the waitress if being the birthday boy came with any perks!), is Jeremy in his favorite booth at his favorite restaurant on his own special day ....